Dipping

G

GiantBen

New member
Hi all,

I have some coral frags coming in the mail tomorrow, It's a bunch of no-name acans, zoas and SPS. I've got TLF ReVive and Lugols Iodine. I've had the Lugols for a while, does this expire? Any recommendations on dipping? I was thinking I'd warm up some fresh water and do a 10 minute freshwater/ReVive dip after floating the bags to warm up the corals. I prefer not to use products that are not created for coral dipping. I don't have a QT tank setup (I know, I know), so I'd like a good dip that should handle most nasties. Thanks for any tips. Once Ken transfers all of his skills to me Sunday, I'll get some tank shots. I also just got a nice black zoas frag from Caesars. Must say, the frags they get for under $15 are pretty good.
 
I can't really answer your questions, but I do have some CoralRx that I dip all my corals in if you want to try some.
 
I dip with basic iodine. I check to see if pests appear first then react whether it's longer or another dipping in different container.

Sometimes I go hydrogen peroxide / tank water, then iodine / tank water. Mainly with zoas and very rare occassions on sps.

There is also the Bayer pesticide method for sps, too.
 
I never use anything but tank water for dipping. I float for temp, slow drip, then dip usually with melafix. If a piece is in rough shape or damaged I'll use lugols(5% solution) more as an antiseptic but its pretty harsh on acros. I've been doing some experiments lately with H2o2(hydrogen peroxide) for zoa dipping and in tank algae control on my frag system. Was turned on to this by Cody, Kodiak here on RC. Proceeding cautiously, I'll keep you posted.
 
Iodine expiring. Don't know. Always tank water with the mix.
I do 9 parts tank water and 1 part hydrogen peroxide for 3 minutes max or when there are tons of bubbles coming out. Currently I have a bad habit and eye ball. But feel it's 5 to 1 which is wrong. Kept things way too long only to make sure things are dead. I use tank water in the frag containers and a few drops of iodine. I keep in there a few minutes.

Before all that, I float and acclimate. I guess you could also use the water the frag came in and add the iodine, then dip again using your tank water and iodine.
 
Thanks. Sounds like I'll go iodine since I have some.
It kills critters that are hitching on, right?

I've never dipped before, so just being safe. Sorry for all the questions.
 
I and I'm sure Mike would rather you ask the questions than not dip and end up with something nasty. Let us know how it goes and lets see some pics of the new goodies.
 
Dip everything always. I've tried most of the popular commercially available dips and I prefer Melafix Marine for incoming frags. It doesn't necessarily kill all hitch hiking organisms on contact but at least sufficiently stuns pests that they either fall off or are easily basted or agitated off. It walks the line between harsh on pests and not too harsh on corals.

Povidone iodine and iodine based dips are better for disinfecting (bacteria, fungus) and following sting events. Definitely harder on acros than Melafix.

And for the record, dipping is not as effective as QT. AEFW eggs will survive dipping. It's a lot easier to defeat them if they hatch in a qt tank than it is once they are established in your display tank.

Still always dip everything always. Every time. No exceptions.
 
I would guess that the Iodine is expiration sensitive. We use I2 in the lab for various titrations and it is extremely light sensitive. Recommended expiration for lab work is 3 months provided you're keeping it dark. I'm sure it's still effective from an anti-septic perspective after that, but that seems to be the cutoff for precision titrations. I think, if you're keeping it out of the light, you're probably good for 6-12 months no problem, if not longer.

FWIW, I use Melafix too.
 
Thanks. I've had the iodine for over a year. It's been in my tank stand, plenty dark. I'm not planning to use it at this point.

Melafix is sounding like the solution I'll go with. What concentration do you use it at?
Is it the stuff I linked about?
Is it safe to also put some ReVive in there with the melafix, or should I use a dip sequence to handle this?

Thanks!
 
The recommended concentration on the bottle is for dosing a whole tank, I believe. I started using it after James at Caesar's recommended it. I usually use 10-15 ml/32 oz. of tank water. It took care of some weird dead tissue on a green napthia almost right away.
 
And yes, that's the correct stuff that you linked. It comes in a taller/skinnier bottle, or at least mine is.
 
The link does not point to the Melafix Marine I use. Also, mine is a dip, not a whole tank treatment
 
I also use Marine Melafix to dip. It is easier on the coral and works great on pest. I don't think iodine is very effective as a dip for pest. With the melafix I've doubled the dose and soaked for longer than the recommended time and it did not harm the coral. I was a little tired of dipping when i did that.(AEFW) But it worked!
 
Marine Melafix, and coralRx are great for dip. I also use Bayers pest control from home depot and it's my favorite dip because it's not only kills flat worms, it also kills red bugs.
 
The marine malifix has dosing directions for a dip as well as a tank treatment on the back of the bottle. This is the stuff ingot from Caesars

Nick
 

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